Chapter 1

The eighties.

I'd been on the waiting list at the factory for more than two years before the company-assigned housing policy finally reached my turn.

I hurried excitedly over to the employee housing office to hand in my paperwork.

But after looking it over, the clerk said, "You don't qualify for company-assigned housing."

I was stunned. "Why? When I started at the factory, they said once you were married you could get in line for housing."

"I'm seven months pregnant. The baby's coming any day now. I've been counting on this apartment. I can't have my child living in the workers' dormitory after it's born, can I?"

The clerk got annoyed too and just threw the marriage certificate back at me.

"What are you making all this noise for? You bring in a fake marriage certificate and you think you're in the right?"

"Besides, I checked. The spouse on your certificate already received an apartment. A married couple only gets one unit, so no matter how you line up, there's no way you'll ever get one assigned to you."

"Now hurry along. Don't waste the time of the people behind you."

Clutching my marriage certificate, I went to find the apartment the clerk said had been assigned to Roy Henson.

In the little courtyard, a lovely, delicate woman was teaching a one-year-old to walk.

After the child tottered out a few steps on his own, she called happily toward the inner room.

"Roy! Roy! Come out and look, the baby's walking by himself!"

Roy Henson came out quickly in an apron, spatula in hand, his smile both surprised and tender.

This math teacher from an elite high school, who never so much as cracked a smile in front of me and fancied himself above it all—so it turned out he could roll up his sleeves and cook, too.

So it turned out he'd already made a home with someone else.

Section 1

I held back, and held back again, and in the end I didn't rush in.

But as I turned to leave, my steps had already gone weak.

The moment I stepped out of the mouth of the alley, the surge of emotion set off a heavy, dragging pain low in my belly. A moment later, everything went black, and I passed out.

When I came to, I was already at the county hospital.

Luckily a kind passerby had brought me in.

Roy Henson was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Your belly is this big, so why are you still running all over the place?"

His voice was pitched low, with his usual reproach. "The doctor said you've disturbed the pregnancy and you're at risk of premature labor. You absolutely cannot go running around anymore."

"You're being completely irresponsible—to yourself and to the baby."

I lay there, looking at him, and pointedly changed the subject. "The baby's coming soon, and we still don't have an apartment. What are we going to do?"

He visibly paused, his eyes sliding away from my face. "I... I'll go push the factory too, see if they can move us up in line. Don't worry, there's always a way."

I sneered inwardly and was about to say something more when a burst of hurried footsteps came from the doorway.

Then a woman's voice called out, "Roy! Roy! Where are you?"

Roy Henson whipped around.

I followed his gaze and saw Bonnie Simmons rushing in with the child in her arms.

The child was crying himself hoarse in her arms, one little arm hanging limp.

The instant Bonnie saw him, her tears came even harder. "Roy, the baby knocked into the stove—there was boiling water on it... it all poured over his arm... What do I do, Roy? I'm so scared..."

Roy Henson's face went white in an instant. He stood up at once, took the child from her, and rushed out. "Doctor! Where's the doctor?!"

I pushed myself up against the edge of the bed and shuffled over to the doorway.

At the far end of the corridor, the child was carried into the emergency room.

Bonnie leaned against Roy Henson's chest, trembling all over. "It's all my fault... I only turned around to grab a towel... he's so little, how can he stand it... Roy, if anything happens to the baby, I won't go on living..."

Roy Henson held her and soothed her softly. "It's all right. The doctor's in there, he'll be fine."

"Don't be scared, I'm here. I'm right here."

His chin rested against the top of her head, his arms wrapped tight around her—he was everything she leaned on.

I stood a few steps away, watching in silence.

Roy Henson seemed to sense something all at once. He lifted his head sharply, and his gaze met mine head-on.